


An Analysis on the Rearing of Avian Earth Lifeforms AKA Peridot Becomes a Mommy

by MayDayGirl_Save_Our_Ships



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-13 06:35:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5698597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayDayGirl_Save_Our_Ships/pseuds/MayDayGirl_Save_Our_Ships
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peridot is coming to terms with her new life as a traitorous gem rebel when she stumbles upon strange white, smooth rocks. She takes them for further analysis and is not prepared for what happens next. If she thought being a rebel was hard, it doesn't compare to her biggest challenge yet: Motherhood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Just Peridot

**Author's Note:**

> If it's not obvious what this story is going to be about by the title and the summary, then it will be by the next chapter.
> 
> This fic has no pairings and it takes place after Log Date and Message Received.

_“Which Peridot?”_

_Peridot didn’t understand why Yellow Diamond’s question had surprised her so much. Of course she would ask which Peridot she was. There were thousands of her._

_However, for some reason, it had taken her by surprise and Peridot was left stuttering and wondering if the rebels’ strange ideology had caused her to become even more defective than she already feared she was…_

* * *

“Peridot!” Steven called. “Come here! You have to see this!”

Peridot groaned from her spot on the couch and got to her feet. What could possibly be so important on this primitive planet that she needed to witness it immediately?

“Peridot hurry! You’re going to miss it!” Steven called again, his voice more urgent this time.

“Yo, Peri! What’s taking you?” Amethyst asked while opening the front door of Steven’s house and peaking her head inside. 

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Peridot grumbled. If Amethyst was excited then it probably would be worth the effort to check it out.

The front door closed behind her and the first thing Peridot noticed was Steven was wearing a wide grin and his eyes were pointing up to the sky. Amethyst’s eyes were also on the sky and Peridot was sensing a pattern here. She looked upwards just in time.

Streaking across the darkness of space, so quick she almost missed it, was the tail of a meteor. She heard Steven gasp beside her.

Only a few more seconds passed before another meteor shot across the sky and Steven practically bounced in excitement.

“This is what you’re all looking at?” she asked loudly. “It’s just cosmic debris entering the planet’s atmosphere! It’s basically just your planet burning up junk from space!”

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Garnet said, showing no sign that she had heard Peridot.

“Beautiful? Did you just here me? You’re just looking at… at space garbage!”

At Peridot’s last syllable the sky lit up as a particularly big meteor streaked across the sky. Peridot felt her mouth fall open as she watched it. It took several seconds before the sky returned to its original dark onyx.

She had never seen a meteor shower before. Why would she? The small meteors that entered the atmosphere of whatever planet she had been stationed at had never threatened progress there, and why would she waste time watching small rocks burn up in the atmosphere when she had work to do?

“It’s still beautiful, though,” Steven said, turning to her with a grin.

“I still don’t see the purpose of it,” Peridot murmured with a pout but she found herself staring up at the sky again, hoping to see it light up again the way it did just a few seconds ago.

“I guess gems on Homeworld don’t normally care about meteors,” Amethyst said with a snicker.

 Peridot straightened. “Absolutely not! We have more important things then… I mean, I used to… I…” Peridot drifted off awkwardly, suddenly feeling very far away from the glimmering lights in the sky that was all she could see of Homeworld’s galaxy.

The silence was suffocating as she thought of everything she left behind. She turned her eyes back up to the sky, hoping to distract herself.  Peridot wasn’t usually very patient gem, and yet, she watched and waited.

“Then it’s a good thing Earth isn’t a Gem colony, or no one would get to see this- OH look at that one!” Amethyst gasped.

Peridot wanted to roll her eyes, but she was too busy following the bright streak across the sky.

“This astronomical event would still be here with or without the rebellion,” Peridot pointed out. “Who cares if someone would have seen it or not? That doesn’t change anything.”

“It changes everything,” Garnet said, her voice steady and patient. It was the voice she used when she was explaining things to her. “Because this sight is only beautiful if there is someone there to appreciate it.”

Peridot looked over at Garnet, but the fusion’s eyes were still on the stars.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Peridot grumbled.

“Peridot?”

The gem looked over at Steven and there was a smile on his face, as there usually was, but this time there was something different about it. Peridot had no words for what that look he was giving her meant, but she knew no one had ever looked at her like that before.

Peridot felt something warm and soft grip her hand and she looked down to see that Steven had taken her hand in his own. She was going to ask what he was doing, when she noticed his other hand was in Amethyst’s hand and quartz-type gem didn’t seem to mind.

Maybe it was one of those strange earth customs?

“I’m glad you’re here with us,” he said, his voice ringing with sincerity, and that strange, happy look on his face never faltered.

Words failed Peridot so she quickly turned her gaze back up to the sky above. There were no words that would be enough to respond to that _look_. Although, if she was honest, it wasn’t so much the look, but the strange way it made her feel. She was a billion miles away from everything she had ever known, but in that moment, just because of that look, she was okay with that. How could she be okay with that?

“Look up everyone, the real show is about to start,” Garnet advised.

The words were barely out of Garnet’s mouth with the sky lit up with a brilliant yellow light. It was beautiful, and pointless. It was the most important moment in the whole world, and nothing but burning space garbage all at the same time.

Suddenly, compared to this sight, Homeworld and all its colonies seemed just a little bit smaller, and Peridot, just a little bit bigger.

Because here, on earth, she wasn’t a Peridot out of thousands.

She was just Peridot.

The first Peridot to look up at burning space garbage and find it beautiful.

 


	2. Tread Carefully

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow guys, thank you so much for all the support!
> 
> This chapter is much longer, but I think the average chapter length will be in between the two lengths. I used to write really long fic chapters, so that’s just how I write naturally, but I don’t want people waiting too long for an update, so I think I will keep them relatively short. 
> 
> This leads me to my next thing. I will be starting my second semester of my Master’s program in a week and I’m not sure how busy I will be. I will try to update as often as I can, but if updates slow down, you will know why.

Unblinking, Peridot studied the creature before her. This was not what she had come to expect. Was it defective in some way?

“Umm, hi,” the creature, the human, said. “You’re Peridot, right? It’s nice to meet you!”

Peridot didn’t say anything in response. The creature shifted uncomfortably. It looked over at Steven, who also had his eyebrows raised in confusion.

“Uhh, Peridot? This is my friend Connie. You saw her at my birthday party, remember? Although you were a little busy.”

Peridot circled around the ‘Connie’ silently, her hand to her chin in confusion.

“This is usually the part where you say it’s nice to meet you too,” Steven suggested while giving Connie an apologetic smile.

“Why is she so short?” Peridot asked suddenly, coming to stand in front of this Connie again. “All the humans I have seen have been tall, like Dad.”

“It’s, umm, he’s _my_  Dad, Peridot.”

“That’s what I said!” Peridot snapped. “But this Connie is shorter!”

To Peridot’s surprise, Connie laughed, which caused an interesting reaction in Steven’s shoulders, as they seemed to slump in relief.  

“No, Peridot, it’s just Connie, remember?” Steven reminded her. “And she’s shorter than my Dad because she’s a kid, just like me!”

Peridot cocked her head to the side. “I don’t… understand.”

Steven’s eyes widened as he looked from Peridot to Connie, and then back to her. “Peridot, you know I’m a kid, right? I’m not… fully grown yet.”

“What is this nonsense?” Peridot snapped, her hands flying upwards in frustration. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re going to grow… taller? That is completely ridiculous!”

“Umm, maybe I can explain,” Connie suggested, and Peridot eyed her warily. If Steven couldn’t explain this concept when he was the one who so accurately described rain to her, then why did the human girl think that she could explain this ridiculous notion any better?

Connie was smiling at her and Peridot narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Why was she smiling? What was the earth human up to? If this human knew Peridot had tried to harm the earth, it wouldn’t be unreasonable that the organic would be out for revenge. It was the human’s planet after all. Peridot would have to keep a close eye on her.

“Gems are grown in the ground, right?” Connie offered, choosing her words carefully “And when they emerge with they’re fully formed.”

“And how do you know so much about gem production?”

Connie’s eyes widened at the hostile interruption, but quickly recovered with a smile and jabbed a thumb in Steven’s direction.

“I hang out with him a lot. Besides, why shouldn’t I know?”

“No reason, I suppose. It’s just seemed like a strange thing for a human to know. You may continue your explanation,” Peridot instructed.

Peridot caught a small frown on the human’s lips before she continued. “When humans are born- I mean, when they are made, they aren’t fully formed yet. It’s the same with most animals on earth. We still have to grow into a fully formed person.”

Peridot blinked at this new information and turned to Steven to confirm that the human Connie was telling the truth.

“That seems like an abysmal waste of time and resources!” Peridot exclaimed. “Why would you waste time in a smaller, more fragile form?” She appraised the quartz half-gem again. “So that is why you are so small? You’re this _kid_  thing? But you will grow and be tall like a real quartz?”

Steven shrugged. “I guess… maybe? I’m not really sure how tall I’ll grow.”

Peridot scoffed. “This whole planet is backwards! How does the organic life even survive long enough to finish this growing process?”

“Well, humans and most animals have parents or guardians that help them.” The Connie human explained. Peridot just stared at her, waiting for her strange words to make sense. “For example, I have a mom and a dad that look after me.”

Peridot turned to Steven. “Like the dad. He is your… parent. He explains things about the earth to you.”

Steven nodded happily. “Now you’re getting it, Peri!”

Peridot shook her head. “But I still don’t understand. What is a mom?”

“Oh, umm,” Steven looked suddenly uncomfortable. “Well a mom is sort of like a dad, but she’s-”

“Ah, Connie, there you are!” Pearl said as she emerged from the temple. “On time, as always. Are you ready to get started you two?”

Peridot frowned at the interruption. “Ready? Ready for what?”

“Oh, Pearl trains Connie and me to fight,” Steven explained. “Hey, do you want to learn to? It might be useful.”

Peridot took a hurried step back and almost tripped over her own feet in the process. “Excuse me?” her voice went up a pitch. “Fighting? You already threw away all my tech, how am I supposed to fight?”

“You don’t need technology to fight,” Steven explained with a shrug. “Connie uses a sword and I use my shield.”

Composing herself, Peridot rolled her eyes. “Once again, Steven, you are confused. I’m a Peridot, I don’t fight. My technology fights for me.”

“Come along, Steven,” Pearl said. “If Peridot doesn’t want to join, she doesn’t have to. We are wasting valuable training time just standing here talking. Oh, Connie, I was thinking we could work on your feet work today.”

“Yes ma’am,” Connie agreed, falling into step behind Pearl as they made their way to the warp pad. “I was practicing at home and I think I got down most of what you taught me.”

Steven shrugged. “Well, if you change your mind you can come train with us anytime,” he suggested, to which Peridot just scoffed.

“Sure, sure, whatever.”

“Because, you know,” Steven said slowly, “You say that you’re not meant to be fighting, but… that never stopped Pearl.”

The hybrid’s hopeful stare lingered on her for a second longer before he turned to chase after the human and Pearl.

Still feeling dazed, Peridot folded her arms against her chest in defiance. What did Steven know? He was just an earth gem who never learned about his kind, not to mention he was barely a gem at all.

Groaning at the strangeness of her new associates, Peridot grabbed a shoulder bag that probably belonged to Steven, and made her way towards the door.

“You look like you’re on a mission,” a calm voice said behind her, and Peridot froze.

She looked back to see the fusion coming out of the temple door. “I- I have samples to collect,” she found herself stuttering, much to her chagrin. She no longer felt uncomfortable around Garnet like she used to, but Peridot was still leaving without permission. Did she even have to ask for permission? Were there rules about this sort of thing? What in Homeworld’s name was the hierarchy with these rebels?

As ridiculous as it sounded, the fusion seemed to be the leader, and then next came the Pearl of all gems. These rebels didn’t even blink an eye when it came to gem types. After all, the Amethyst was only third in command, when she should be leading the group. Peridot was completely lost with these backwards gems on their similarly backwards planet.

“If I am going to protect this planet I should know more about what I’m protecting. Is… is there a problem with that?” Peridot asked, trying to keep the irritation in her voice under control. She was forced live with these Gems now that she was a traitor, and if there was one thing that all gems were taught back on Homeworld, it was to never upset the gem in charge.

The Permafus- Garnet continued to stare at her. Peridot began to squirm under her gaze.

“Just don’t end up in jail again,” Garnet said at last. “Greg doesn’t have the money to make bail twice.”

Peridot threw her hands in the air. “That was one time! And how was I supposed to know they were not open? There were plenty of humans in the window wearing the shirts!”

“Those were mannequins, you threw a rock through the window to get in, and you walked out with about twenty different types of underwear on.”

“Those mannequin creatures didn’t understand how to utilize those shirts properly! I did a far superior job!” Peridot defended as she ground her teeth together at the memory.

To her surprise, Garnet chuckled. “Just be careful,” she advised. “This is your planet now too, but you still have a lot to learn about the earth. Tread carefully or you might get more than you bargained for.”

* * *

 

Tread carefully? What sort of instruction was that? No, not instruction, advice. The Crystal Gems often didn’t give orders in the way Peridot was used to. They just all agreed on a plan and everyone did their part. Peridot was good at taking orders, one could say that she was the best, but taking advice? She didn’t quite know how to handle that.

Peridot had been collecting samples from the earthling’s town for two hours. She had found quite a few fascinating earth objects along with the remnants of old gem tech from the rebellion. She would have to study the earth objects more when she got back to Steven’s house, but for now, there was one more place she wanted to check.

Carefully, Peridot climbed over the small wired fence with a smirk. If that fence was made for keeping people out, then whoever built it did a really bad job. Not that Peridot expected much from humans.

She made her way over to the very small red house on the southwest end of the fenced off grass. The house was only a few more inches taller than Peridot and the inside of the house was layered with hay.

 _‘Who lives in here?’_  Peridot wondered to herself. She knew humans lived in houses, but this house looked even too small for that Connie human. Perhaps houses like these were meant for humans even smaller than Connie? How small were humans when they first emerged anyway? Peridot supposed she could ask Steven, but then again, she didn’t really care.

Peridot got to her knees and looked inside. It was too dark to see much of anything, so she instinctively lit up her gem, casting enough light to illuminate the small house. It looked empty of any small humans, but she could make out strange bulbous shapes at the back of the house. She couldn’t study them further without climbing inside, so Peridot decided to leave them alone.

Peridot was about to leave when a white stone caught her eye. It was sitting in a small box against the inside wall of the house. It was almost completely covered in hay so she had almost missed it. Reaching into the dwelling, Peridot closed her fingers around the small white rock. Her eyes widened in surprise. It was heavier than it looked and warm to the touch. Peridot brought the absurd rock to her face. It was very strange. It didn’t look like it was a sedimentary rock or any other common rock from the earth’s surface.  If she were to take a guess, she would say the rock was calcium based, but she would need to preform tests to make sure.

_Scratch, scratch._

Peridot nearly dropped the rock. She could have sworn she had heard noises from the inside of it, and had the weight of the rock shifted slightly?

Buzzing with pride from her new discovery and sudden curiosity, Peridot placed the delicate rock inside her bag. She would really learn something interesting from this. Maybe if she kept this up she would know more about the earth than even the Crystal Gems did! Wouldn’t they be surprised if Peridot surpassed them on earth knowledge?

Peridot laughed to herself as she reached into the small house again. She was rewarded with five more warm rocks, each of which she placed into her bag and then wrapped them up with a leftover tattered shirt that had been in the bottom of the bag. Peridot’s bag was full of many objects she had spent the day collecting, and she didn’t want to scuff the rocks before she could examine them further. 

 Grinning to herself, Peridot sat up on her knees. Today had been a very efficient day-

Peridot screamed as something very angry and sharp leaped at her face. She felt sharp claws on her skin and visor and immediately pushed the creature away. Peridot jumped to her feet and found herself staring down at a very familiar animal. It seemed Amethyst’s portrayal of a chicken had been accurate. However, the joke about the chicken and the road failed to mention how violent chickens were.

The chicken lunged for her again and Peridot ran.

“Help! Someone get this deranged creature away from me!” she yelled as loud as she could in hopes that someone was nearby.

The chicken was faster than she thought possible. It pecked at her legs as she ran in circles in an attempt to evade it. It had such tiny legs! How was it able to keep up with her so easily?

“Go away! Leave me alone!” But the furious chicken flapped its wings as it continued to pursue her.  

If she could just get back over the small fence maybe the chicken wouldn’t be able to follow her. It was her only chance.

She dashed for the fence, but the chicken was more clever than she thought. With a few flaps from its wings, the chicken landed on the back of Peridot’s leg, its claws digging into her. Peridot screamed as she fell to the ground.

“Hey! Leave her alone!” A familiar voice called, and suddenly she felt a presence beside her. It grabbed the chicken and pulled it off the frightened Gem. Peridot turned around to see a familiar pink shield go up around the two of them. The furious chicken clucked and pecked at the shield, making loud horrific squawking noises, but Peridot knew that if the shield held for the fusion experiments, then they would hold against a chicken.

“Peridot, are you okay?” Steven asked as he grabbed her arm and helped her to her feet.

“That thing! That monster! It attacked me!” Peridot cried, pointing shakily at the chicken.

“That’s so strange,” Steven said. “That hen’s name is Talky and she’s usually so sweet. I wonder what upset her.”

Peridot shook her head. “That dysfunctional chicken has no logic! It must be broken in some way!”

 “Talky isn’t broken, she’s just upset,” Steven reasoned. “Maybe you scared her?”

“I scared that monster?” Peridot asked, taken aback. She considered this for a moment. “Hmm, well I am from an advanced war faring race. Anything as simple as a chicken would be afraid of me.”

Peridot felt a wet and warm trickling sensation fall onto her arm where Steven was still holding on. She looked down in horror at the small drops of red liquid.

“What is that?” she shrieked, pulling her arm away in panic.

Steven blinked down at his thumb, which had a small incision along its edge and was now leaking red liquid.

“Oh, Talky must have scratched me,” Steven said as if it were a simple matter. “It’s just a small cut.”

He popped the digit into his mouth and Peridot’s own mouth fell open in horror.

“Come on, let’s get over the fence so I can drop the bubble,” Steven suggested while taking her hand with his free one.

Peridot allowed him to lead her; her nose wrinkling in disgust at the thought of Steven’s small cut. She knew that many organics bled, but seeing it was another matter.

When they climbed over the fence and Steven dropped his bubble, Peridot noticed that his thumb was no longer in his mouth, but instead of red liquid leaking from it, the digit looked perfectly clean and intact, like nothing had ever happened. Steven seemed to have already forgotten about it.

The chicken continued to squawk loudly at them as it rammed itself into the fence over and over in hopes of breaking through. It was so loud! Why did it hate her so much?

“It’s still so weird that Talky attacked you like that. She’s usually so good with strangers.” Steven looked at her again, his eyes narrowing. “Peridot…”

“What?” she yelped. The last time he looked at her like that he had trapped her in a broken down vehicle with a child safety lock.

“I know you wouldn’t have meant to, but you didn’t do anything to Talky on accident, did you?”

“No!” Peridot defended loudly. “I didn’t even know that foul, avian beast was there!”

Steven continued to look at her a second longer, his eyebrows scrunching together in thought, before he shrugged.

“Okay, well, we should head home,” Steven suggested.

“Why were you out here in the first place?” Peridot asked. “I thought you were training with that human and Pearl.”

“Her name is Connie,” Steven reminded her patiently. “And we finished training for today. Garnet said you went out exploring and I wanted to make sure you were uh… doing okay.”

Peridot crossed her arms over her chest. “You don’t think I can navigate the dangers of this planet on my own?” she asked, insulted.

“Well… no, it’s just… you _were_  being attacked by a chicken.”

“That was an anomaly! I still don’t understand why anyone would make a joke based on those horrid creatures. I know why the chicken crossed the road! It was to attack the lovable Peridot on the other side!”

Steven’s mouth twitched and Peridot could tell he was trying not to laugh. She didn’t find it quite as funny as he seemed to.

As they began to walk back to the temple, Peridot placed her hand over the side of her bag. She could feel that the warm rocks were still whole and unbroken.

If Steven hadn’t struck a conversation at that exact moment, and if Peridot hadn’t answered him with her own loud voice, the two of them would have heard small peeps coming from inside the bag. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want constant updates for this story, follow my tumblr [ maydaygirl-save-our-ships.](http://maydaygirl-save-our-ships.tumblr.com/)


	3. Unexpected Surprises

The sun lowered hours ago on the uneventful evening and only now did the house settle into its silent stillness. Despite the occasional creak in the infrastructure and Steven’s breathing coming from upstairs, the house was quiet. The three other gems were in the temple, and aside from Amethyst occasionally coming out to raid the fridge, they would stay in the temple until morning. This was the time Peridot had all to herself.

She pitied the hybrid and his need to sleep. Sleep sounded like a complete waste of productivity and time.

Peridot made her way to the bag she had left under a lamp on her desk. She planned to examine her findings from earlier that day when there was no one around to bother her. She approached her ‘station’, which consisted of a medium sized wooden desk and a wooden chair. It was a huge downgrade from the proper tools she had back on Homeworld, but at least she had something that was her’s. And unlike on Homeworld, she could work on whatever she pleased.

To her right, Peridot had a box of old parts; most of them were outdated gem technology but a few pieces were human in origin. The green Gem tried not to think about what she was keeping hidden at the bottom of the box. She knew Steven wouldn’t be very happy with her if he knew.

She didn’t have a lot to work with, but at least she had something to do during the night. On Homeworld she always had a project to complete or a last minute task her manager assigned her to, but here on earth her only job was to ‘protect the earth’. She wouldn’t have thought it, but protecting an entire planet was rather boring at times. This experience of having nothing to do was an unsettling one, and it left too much time for painful thoughts. The more she found herself thinking about home, the more it hurt knowing she would never go back.

Peridot reached out to open the bag when she noticed how warm it was. She wasn’t sure if it was because the white rocks were warm to begin with, or because the bag had been sitting under the lamp all day.

The Gem carefully took out one of the white rocks. It was as heavy as she remembered and almost perfectly smooth. She had been correct in her previous analysis. The stone seemed to be about 95 percent calcium carbonate, and if she were to guess without any proper tests, she would say the other 5 percent was calcium phosphate and magnesium carbonate. Perhaps these stone were formed in the earth’s ocean, like many other calcium carbonate based objects on this planet.

On the other hand, calcite was one of the most common minerals on the planet, so these stones could have been formed almost anywhere. The smooth texture, however, pointed again to the ocean.

But, that didn’t answer one very important question: why did the stones give off their own heat?

“Oh, what’s this?” Peridot asked herself. There was something different about the stone that definitely hadn’t been there before. On the side of the stone there was a small hole. She frowned. Had the rock been damaged when she fell during the chicken attack?

Peridot had already surmised that the stone was not solid calcium carbonate all the way through and was probably very fragile, but she thought she had wrapped them up so they wouldn’t knock against anything.

_Peep!_

 The green Gem almost dropped the stone. She hastily placed it on her desk. There was something  _inside_ it! And whatever it was, she could hear it moving!

The thought made her shiver. What on this Homeworld forsaken planet had she picked up?

As she leaned in closer to the stone, she could hear scratching coming from the inside. Wait a second… Carefully, Peridot grabbed the bag, and tipped it just enough for the five other stones to slide out along with the shirt they were wrapped in. When she removed the shirt, she could plainly see small holes in almost all of the stones. The shirt had muffled the sounds, but now she could hear scraping and chirping noises coming from inside.

It had to be organic life. This planet was crawling with it. But what was it doing inside of a stone? Perhaps it was some sort of parasite? Peridot had learned about those creatures, but she didn’t know much about them.

Her eyes widened as one of the stones began to wobble. The creature inside had begun tapping against the hard calcium layer, exactly where the hole had been. The hole began to grown in the stone and Peridot caught a glimpse of something sharp that the creature was using to break through.

She watched, transfixed, as the small creature rhythmically hit the small instrument against the stone, like it was some sort of primitive tool attached to its body. Peridot surmised it was some sort of claw or tooth, and she was not going to put her gem anywhere near that thing, not after she saw what it could do to the stone.

The creature suddenly stopped. Peridot thought it had given up, but then not even a minute passed before it resumed its progress. The stone next to it also began to wobble as something scratched at the inside layer. The Gem had a bad feeling that every single one of these stones had these creatures inside.

Cracks began to form around the hole in the first stone, and as the hole grew even wider, Peridot could make out the face of a very ugly organic creature. It had small beady eyes and what looked like wet, sticky fur. It made a constant unpleasant peeping sound for a reason Peridot could not determine.

Eventually, the creature caused a large crack to from all the way around the stone, causing the two sides of the stone to slowly break apart as the creature struggled for its freedom. It had to rest two more times before it had fully dislodged itself from the stone.

Oh. Peridot had been so fascinated by the horrid process that she never thought about what she would do if the slimy creature actually got free.

“Steven!” The Gem hissed loudly up to the boy. “Steven!” she called again, more panicked now, but there was still no response.

It was no use. Peridot wasn’t really sure how sleep worked, only that Steven would be no use to her until the sun rose. She was on her own.

The creature began stumbling around, ruffling its fur, or whatever that stuff on its body was, and peeping constantly. The emerged creature wasn’t the only one making noise. The creature in the second stone was almost as loud, and Peridot couldn’t even see its face yet.

The slimy creature seemed to amble around without purpose. It bumped into the other stones and then began walking towards the edge of the table. Peridot thought it would stop when it got to the edge.

It didn’t.

The green Gem wasn’t sure what came over her. The last thing she wanted to do was touch the disgusting creature, but she had reacted instantly and without thought.

She caught the creature in both of her hands before it hit the ground. It was wet, warm and its little claws scraped the palm of her hand, but not enough to hurt. Peridot quickly set the creature on the ground at her feet and wiped her hands on her uniform.

She turned back to the stones on the table. If she wanted to avoid having to touch the slimy creatures again, she knew what she had to do. Carefully, without moving them too much or breaking any of them herself, Peridot lifted each of the stones from the table and placed them on the floor with the freed creature. Then, she moved the lamp onto the floor so she could see them better. Now, when they emerged from the stone, they wouldn’t be able to walk off the table.

Peridot leaned down to study the emerged creature. It still seemed dizzy from its tumble as it peeped pathetically to itself. It wandered around the other stones for a minute before finally settling down underneath the light of the lamp.

With the first creature staying in the same spot, Peridot was free to focus her attention on the other stones. The second stone was almost completely cracked in half. She could see it’s head poking out as it struggled to get free. Two more stones were cracking beside it.

Just like every night on earth, this going to be a long one; but at least she had something to do.

* * *

Peridot had identified the creatures as ‘birds’. Now that they were no longer wet and sticky, she realized that it wasn’t fur covering their bodies, but fur-like feathers. The feathers were small and fuzzy, unlike most bird’s whose feathers looks sleek and aerodynamic. They also had a beak, tiny wings, and talons. That was every checkmark on the list for how she knew how to distinguish birds from all the other organic life on the planet.

It was times like this that Peridot missed her screen… okay, she always missed her screen, but that was beside the point. It used to tell her exactly what everything was, or at least what it was made out of, no matter how alien or bizarre. If she had her screen, she never would have picked up those troublesome rocks.

The birds were huddled together under the lamplight, peeping incessantly. They didn’t even seem to be trying to communicate with each other. They were just making noise just to make noise!

The sky outside was starting to lighten and Peridot felt relieved that this would all be over soon. She had been too paranoid to take her eyes off the birds in case one of them managed to sneak up on her. The way they scurried around amongst each other was unsettling. She could barely keep track of their quick movements and Homeworld help her if they made a move towards her. She had already been attacked by one bird, she didn’t need more of them deciding that they should use their sharp little beaks on her. She still wasn’t quite sure if the small birds could hurt her like the chicken had; after all, they did look very weak and pathetic, but she wasn’t going to take any chances. Birds were birds and organics were organics. They were all the same deep down; annoying and completely illogical!

There were six birds in total. The first two that emerged had been mostly brown with yellow markings. They both looked about the same, so Peridot was surprised when the next bird emerged with darker, solid brown feathers. It was also the biggest, but that wasn’t saying much since they were all very small. The fourth bird was completely grey and the fifth was the only one with three different colors. It was almost as if nature couldn’t decide which color scheme to give it, so it haphazardly splashed a little yellow, brown and black onto the bird and gave up. The last one was a runt in comparison to the others and had taken the longest to climb out of its stone. Peridot hadn’t been sure it would make it out at all. The bird had to stop to rest so many times that the Gem thought it would give up. But eventually, it climbed its way out just like the others had.

Peridot picked up one of the broken stones curiously. It no longer looked like a rock, but what could it have been? Why had these birds been lying in wait in these containers? She had heard of something called hibernation. Perhaps that had been what they were doing?

One of the birds, the tricolored one, approached her, chirping loudly. This seemed to get the other birds attention as they followed suit.

Peridot scooted back from where she had been sitting on the ground. “Wh-what are you doing?” she asked nervously.

The birds chirped as they continued to approach her.

The Gem scrambled to her feet. “Get away from me!” she yelled. “Leave me alone this instant!”

The birds only began to scurry faster towards her. She took a few steps backward, then a few more. They weren’t stopping.

The next thing she knew, Peridot was running around the house with the birds in pursuit.

“WHY DO ALL BIRDS HATE ME!” she screamed.

She thought about dashing to the bathroom and locking the door, but then she would be trapped inside for hours. Peridot had already spend way too much time in that place. Plus, the birds were blocking her path to the bathroom’s entrance.

She needed to go somewhere safe and she had to move fast.

Peridot turned and bounded up the stairs on all fours. With one leap, she jumped on to the bed, crashing into something warm and soft already laying in it.

“Wha- what? What’s going on?” Steven asked in a sleepy voice as he propped himself up on his elbows to look at her in confusion. “Peridot? What are you-”

“Shhh! I think I lost them!” The green Gem shushed him as she looked over the edge of the bed. There were no birds in sight but she could hear them peeping loudly at the base of the stairs. Peridot was surprise by that. Why did the stairs stop them? They were birds, weren’t they? Now that they were dry wouldn’t they be able to fly?

Steven climbed out from under his blankets and looked over the side of the bed with her. She Peridot could barely make out his concerned face with the dim light coming in from the window. “Lost who?” he whispered.

“Those little monsters!”

Steven’s eyebrows creased with worry as his eyes scanned the room. “Gem monsters?”

“No! Worse!” Peridot gripped the corner of the bed as she listened to them peeping pathetically, their sounds of distress growing louder.

“Wait, what is that?” Steven asked as he climbed off the bed, flicking on his bedside lamp as he went.

“Steven, no!”

But Steven didn’t listen as he walked to the edge of the stairs and looked down.

“Oh. My. Gosh! BABIES!”

Peridot winced at the high-pitched noise that came from Steven’s mouth.

“They’re so cute! Where did they come from? Wait…” He turned back to Peridot, his eyes wide. “Peridot, you didn’t…”

Peridot sat up, crossing her arms defensively. “Didn’t what? How am I supposed to answer that question when you won’t tell me what I did or didn’t do!”

“Did you take Talky’s eggs from her? Is that why she was so mad at you?”

The Gem stood up on the bed. She took a moment to appreciate the extra height it gave her. “Of course not! I don’t even know what an egg is!” She paused for a moment, considering the situation. “Unless you mean those white stones…”

Steven sighed. “You did take them!”

“Well how was I supposed to know there were things living inside? Just get rid of them! They’re trying to attack me.”

“They’re just babies, Peridot. They’re not going to be able to hurt you.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Define… ‘babies’.”

Steven blinked at her. Her question had obviously thrown him off, but then he smiled and held out his hand for her. “Come here, I’ll show you what I mean.”

“I’m good here, thanks.”

Steven just wiggled the fingers of his outstretched hand at her and Peridot sighed, defeated. At least this was preferable to dealing with those organic things on her own. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like the story is finally getting started! Thanks so much for the comments and support. I really appreciate it!
> 
> My tumblr: [ maydaygirl-save-our-ships.](http://maydaygirl-save-our-ships.tumblr.com/)


	4. Mother Hen Peridot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter could also be called Peridot needs to buy a dictionary.

Peridot climbed off the bed and approached Steven, dragging her feet slightly to delay the inevitable. As soon as she reached him, he grabbed her hand and began pulling her downstairs with a sudden burst of energy.

The birds were still waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, peeping loudly in distress. As soon as they saw her, their peeping grew louder and they began jumping over each other’s backs in their attempt to climb the first step. One of them almost made it up before tumbling back down and landing on its backside.

Steven managed to drag her halfway down the stairs before a feeling of dread overwhelmed her and she dug in her heels. Peridot pulled her hand away from his grip and held it close to her chest. Steven turned back to her in confusion.

“I am not getting any closer to those things,” The green Gem announced, eyeing the birds nervously.

“You really are scared of them, aren’t you?” Steven asked.

Peridot crossed her arms. “Well, if you haven’t noticed, Steven, I don’t exactly have the best history with birds,” She replied dryly. “And those things  _did_  try to attack me.”

“Are you sure they were trying to attack you? Maybe they just like you?” Steven reasoned.

Peridot scoffed. Yeah, sure, and maybe Yellow Diamond would forgive her and welcome her back on Homeworld.  _Not!_

“I don’t think they were trying to hurt anyone,” Steven explained. “They’re just babies after all!”

Oh yes, that word again.

“You still haven’t explained ‘babies’ to me yet. Are they a type of bird?”

Steven’s eyes widened. “Oh, umm, no. They’re not a type of bird, they’re… umm…” Steven rubbed his fingers against his chin in thought. “How do I explain this? Well, remember how me and Connie were trying to explain kids to you yesterday?”

Peridot nodded slowly. She had a limited grasp on what a kid was, but she was used to having only a limited understanding about most things on this planet.

“Well, a baby is something you are before you’re a kid.” Steven paused, his forehead scrunching in confusion. “Well, not you of course, but humans and animals,” he corrected quickly. “When animals are born, umm, emerge, they come out as babies. Babies are smaller and they can’t do the same things a fully grown animal can. A lot of animals need to be protected and taught things by their parents, like how my dad taught me how to read and about how the planet works.

“Eventually, an animal grows up from a baby to a kid, and then eventually to an adult,” Steven continued. “Well, I guess I’m actually a teenager, which is kind of like being an older kid that is slowly turning into an adult.” He rubbed the back of his neck uncertainty. “I’m not sure if that made any sense to you. Connie would probably be better at explaining this than I am.”

“So what you’re saying is…” Peridot said slowly, “the first stage of development for an organic after it emerges is this ‘baby state’. In this state they are weak and useless and must rely on the parent?” The green Gem paused. “I assume the parent is a fully formed organic of the same species?”

Steven grinned. “Yeah, for the most part. Some animals don’t need their parents to take care of them when they’re babies, but a lot of them do, like humans.”

“I see. And eventually these babies grow into kids.”

“Yeah, and then the kids become teenagers and the teenagers become adults. That’s when they’re fully grown up. Then a lot of time they have their own babies and they have to take care of them.”

Peridot frowned, wrinkling her nose. “That sounds very… unpleasant.”

“It’s not unpleasant! Babies are really cute and small. They’re fun to be around, but they’re still learning so you have to be patient with them. That’s why I think the chicks weren’t attacking you. They were just being curious babies.”

Peridot cocked her head to the side. “Chicks?”

“Oh yeah that’s what baby birds are usually called, especially baby chickens, like these guys!”

“These are baby chickens?” The green Gem stared down at the small creatures. She watched as they scurried around the bottom of the stairs, bumping into each other and chirping loudly. “I think I understand. Because they are babies they do not yet look like chickens.”

“Exactly!” Steven replied as he started walking down the stairs.

“Steven, wait!” Peridot called, her chest filling with panic. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry, they’re not dangerous,” Steven assured her, giving her a soft smile. “Here, I’ll show you.”

Steven stepped off the staircase and Peridot watched flabbergasted as the birds shied away from him. They huddled together as a group a few feet away from Steven watching him carefully.

“That’s not how they acted with me!” She assured him, feeling slightly indignant that the birds had no hesitation in attacking her, but were clearly afraid of Steven. “Maybe it’s because you’re organic.” She paused. “Half-organic.”

“Hey little guys!” Steven cooed as he knelt down to get a better look at them. “Look at all of you! You’re so cute!”

Peridot rolled her eyes. Why was Steven talking to them? It’s not as if they could understand him.

Steven straightened up and turned back towards her. “Come on, Peridot!” He encouraged. “They’re not going to hurt you.”

Peridot shook her head, a scoff rising in the back of her throat. There was just no way she was getting close to those things again. She watched as they scurried around the floor, keeping together as a tight unit and moving as if they shared one mind. They kept their wary eyes on Steven as they moved, never getting closer than two feet.

“I promise you’ll be fine, Peridot,” Steven said, his voice taking on a sweeter cadence. The green Gem glanced from the chicks to Steven, and that had been her downfall. His eyes were suddenly twice as large and he looked so… there was no other word for it,  _utterly hopeful_.

“Just trust me, please?” he asked again.

She managed to look away, but as she glanced at the birds again, she could already feel her resolve weakening. Was she actually considering this? It was times like these that Peridot wondered if the half-gem had some sort of persuasive power. She felt the sudden need to comply, but not because of some engraved drive follow orders, but because she didn’t want to disappoint him.

Peridot sighed, defeated. “If they attack me I’m blaming you for this,” she hissed.

Steven’s grin stretched so wide and so fast his face seemed barely able to contain it.

Peridot inched closer to the bottom of the stairs, but the birds seemed preoccupied with avoiding Steven they didn’t seem to notice her. Maybe Steven was right and they would leave her alone? Besides, what did she have to fear from the useless earth lifeform that wasn’t even fully developed?

The green Gem stepped off the stairs and they still didn’t seem to notice her. She came to stop next to Steven, feeling suddenly better now that she was next to a quartz, even if he was only a half-quartz and seemed to only possess defensive capabilities.

She opened her mouth to comment on the situation, but froze mid breath as the chick’s heads perked up, their eyes looking straight at her. Peridot should have ran back for the stairs right then, but in that moment all logic fled her, and when she saw six suddenly fearless chicks running straight towards her, she bolted.

“Peridot, come back!” she heard Steven call as she ran.

She felt the chicks on her heels, determined, no doubt, to bring her down.

“I told you this would happen!” The green Gem yelled back. “Why did I allow you to convince me?”

The birds chirped after her loudly from behind, their high-pitched peeps piercing her ears. Peridot chanced a glance backwards, only to see that all but one chick was directly behind her. One must have fallen behind in the chase. Now if she could only shake the others.

“What is going on out here?”

Peridot’s head snapped up as she watched all three gems exiting the temple. Pearl’s eyes were wide as they scanned the room, her face becoming increasingly distraught as they took in the seen before her.

“Whoa, cool!” Amethyst exclaimed, clearly enjoying the chaos. “What did Peri do this time?”

The green Gem’s panicked mind seemed to make the decision on her own as she found herself heading for one of the only places she knew she would be safe. The birds were momentarily surprised by the sudden change in direction as she jumped over the warp pad and dove straight under Garnet’s legs.

Peridot stood up, now safely behind the fusion, and placed a hand on Garnet’s leg as she peaked out from behind the large Gem.

“Keep those things away from me!” she demanded, her voice bordering on hysterical as she pointed to the cluster of chicks coming towards her.

As soon as the chicks saw Garnet, however, they all seemed to change direction at once, shying away from the taller gem like they had with Steven. They chirped pathetically to themselves as they watched Peridot from afar.

Amethyst burst into sudden laughter, like it was the funniest thing she had ever seen, and Pearl just pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“Steven, why are there baby birds in your room?” Pearl asked tiredly, but for some reason, not entirely unsurprised.

“Peridot hatched them,” Steven explained as he made his way over to the others from the staircase. “Well, she didn’t mean to. She accidentally picked up some eggs and she didn’t know what they were.”

“I see.” Pearl sounded far from amused. “Well, she’ll have to take them back, they can’t stay here.”

“I’m not getting anywhere near those things!” Peridot shrieked, terror rising back up into her chest. “They’ve been trying to attack me since they emerged!”

Amethyst snorted. “Attack you? You’re kidding right?” She took a few steps towards the group of birds. The slower sixth one had found its way back to the group in the time they had been talking, and all of the birds warily watched the purple Gem’s approach.

“Amethyst, you’re going to scare them,” Steven warned, but the quartz continued forward, acting like she hadn’t heard him.  

Peridot slowly detached herself from Garnet’s legs as she watched Amethyst’s new game.

“Grab them and take them back where they came from,” She requested. “Quickly!”

“I got ‘em, I got ‘em,” Amethyst said, her voice less than soothing, “relax.”

Peridot watched as the birds began to scoot away as her purple friend continued towards them. At any second they would bolt-

Amethyst pounced, her arms wide open as if she attended to scoop them up, but as she landed with a thump her arms full of nothing but air.

The green Gem stared at the place the chicks should have been. Their little legs had moved so fast she had barely seen their narrow escape.

 “You have to let them come to you,” Steven said. “You have to show them you’re not going to hurt them.”

Amethyst clambered back onto her feet. “Nah, too boring.” She rubbed her hands together. “I like my way.”

“But you’re just scaring them more!”

Amethyst shrugged. “Hey, it’s not my fault they’re chicken.” She cracked a grin and elbowed Steven gently in the chest. “Get it? Chicken?”

Steven began to smile and let out a small giggle. “Yeah, I get it.”

In the mist of the baby bird’s flee from Amethyst’s attempt to capture them, something else seemed to catch the bird’s attention, and they suddenly changed direction. 

Peridot took a step back when she saw them heading straight for her, and in her panic her feet seemed heavier than normal. With a surprised cry, she landed on her back, the ceiling now directly in her line of sight.

She heard the chicks approach before she felt them and she shut her eyes tightly, waiting for them to attack.

Their little claws climbed all over her body, causing her to wince in disgust, but other than that… they didn’t hurt her. She opened her eyes slowly, still hesitant in case any movement would prompt them to attack.

“Wow, they really like you, Peri,” Amethyst said with a snicker.

Peridot pulled herself into a full sitting position, her eyes squinting in confusion as she watched the birds chirp insistently on her lap.

“See, I told you they weren’t trying to hurt you,” Steven said, his grin wide. “And Amethyst is right! They do really like you! They’re scared of us, but they don’t seem scared of you at all!”

“I don’t care!” Peridot snapped. “Just get them off me!”

“Even if we removed the chicks from your person, they won’t leave you along for long,” Pearl said, and then she let out a long breath.

Peridot’s eyes went wide. “Why not?” she demanded, looking up at the slender Gem.

“Because after they’re born, some species of birds and other animals on earth imprint on the first thing they see.”

“Imprint…” Peridot rolled the word over in her mouth. “What does that mean?”

Pearl gave her and exasperated look that the green Gem didn’t appreciated. “It means, Peridot, that those baby birds think you’re their mother.”

_Mother?_

Peridot could barely hear herself think over the sound of Steven squealing in delight.

The word sounded familiar; she had definitely heard it before, but she couldn’t recall a single definition.

One thing she did know for sure, however, was that whatever that word meant the last thing she wanted was to be mistaken for this  _mother_  thing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you so much for all the comments and support guys! Graduate school has been killer, so again, I’m sorry I can’t update every week, but I’ll try to make the updates as close as I can  
> My tumblr [ maydaygirl-save-our-ships.](http://maydaygirl-save-our-ships.tumblr.com/)


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